Stop feed plug for textile knitting machines



June 28, 1938. c. STRZALKOWSKI I 2,121,994

' STOP FEED PLUG FOR TEXTILE KNITTING MACHI NES Original Filed Feb. 10,19:56

INVENTOR jAnother object o'fnmyninvention'is Patented June 28, 1938 vensues S t rz"allrowski,f Milwaukee; wish; 7T

10,1936, Serial N .1, 63,195

I This invention appertains to knitting' niachines, and moreparticularly to pa novel appli- ,a ncefr use in conjunctionwithfullsfashiond stocking knitting: machines.

U As is .Wellknown' the standard a,-

chine generally", includes" (for. the ,Le gge rZQ I eighteenstockingknittingsectionS and each settion embodies seven or more,thrfead"carriers. Considerable Waste takes place' wl'1 enf ailireadbreaks, as it is desirable:tocontinuethe knitting operation, and all ofthe legs or'ffeet (as thec'ase may be) on the machine are made beforattmpt- ,ing to remedy ,the break; and thus; the knitting ioperation andtheflieed' of .the thread; continues Ionthe sectionhavingthe brokenthr'ead. Con sequen'tly, the stocking knitted by the section with thebroken thread isruined and muStdbe dis- "carded as waste. Als'o,1 the'broken thread is" liable to become entangled, necessitatingthe'rerthreadling ofthesection, whichis a lengthy andtedious op ati n. 1It is, therefore, one offthe primaryobjectsof my'invention to providenovel means ,rorspopping 'the feed of the thread atjth'eithread'fcarriers of M ,one section, of the knitting machine when athread i "breaks in said section tofeffejctivelypreventsthe 'waste ofthread and the necessity of, r-threadin'g thejsection. .r

I ,Another salient objectf o fjmy invention" is the I provision of meansassociatedwithfthfthread -50 ,carriers for engaging the threadv inf'the' thread gui e tubes .of the carriers randflwithoutlnjury Iagainst movement and displacement,

985 'a member entirelyindependent of sth e fknitting machine adapted tobe manually' 'place' d j on and removed from the machine rorqrr etion nya;- 7

'ga'ging'the thread and the thread arrler, wherebyno obstructionsorprojeotingj portions will be formed on thethread-carrier, thememberbeing formed from cushionin material sojthatinjury to the threadand the thread-carrier nfill be prevented. I I j I f' ;Y Y

A'jfurther objector myinventionfl is the pr o vIi r 45 sion of removablemembers adapted'to be wedged into the guide tubes of the carrier s' rorfirmly' 60 with full-fashioned st ocking knitting machines,

to said tubes, sonas toyfirmjly'hold the hr s which will be vdurable andeflicient in use, one that lfbejsimplel and easyjto manufacture, and onehi canbe placed upon themarketat an exv itl'i' t. ester and .otllerobjects in view,f, t he in- 5 .vention consists in t'lie novelconstruction, ar-

-,.r em nt nd ier ati n of'par asw be jhe'rei'nafter mbr specifically;described, claimed,

"and v ustrated" e accom panying I drawing in .v ,10 Figu re l isafragmentary PBISPGCHVB'VIQW of apart; of onesection or. a fullffasliionedfistock- .ing knitting; machine.

Figur e'Zis 1a fragmentarygdetail, side elevation illustrating thenormal position 'of a thread "on 195 thethreaducarrienand'in'the guidetube. I I

i'Fi'gure" is" a fragmentary side elevation of a thread carrien withftheguidejtube in section, showing I one of: my improved devices in positionsure 4 is an enlarged, detailjfront elevation of one or; the "improvedplugs.- j

' [Figu e- 411s 'a v1ew' similar to Figure 4:, "show:-

i "a s li'ghtly'rnodified form thereof.

igures isf a side elevation of a further form 25 "gj t o' the drawing in5 detail, wherein "similar; reference characters designatecorrespondingfpartsthroughout the several views, the "letter Mfgenerallyindicates'a'iragment of a sec- 650 of aipliig] {which "can be utilized;

" Reierrl t a full fas'hio'ned stocking knitting machine This machineM'is of the usual or any de'siredst dam-construction, and only asumcientportion of the machine has been shown to lllust'rat he'disebfmyimproved appliance.

if -ustrated,' themachine embodies the, bed and frame 2-,"m"-rro'nt(if-Which traverses a plurality of thread carriers--55"Thesecarriers 5lay tfie-threadupon the sinkers 3 and'dividers 4 along needles 6."Theknock-over bits 1 are shown E Fji urelbelow'the' dividers andsinkers. Each thradcarrier' 5 includes a guide tube 8 for the "threads-9.1) 1 I I I Th'e inner surface or bore o f the guide tube 8 is highlypolished so'a's to prevent injury to 'the thread'and to facilitate easytravel of the thread through the "tubeli As 'set' forth'a'bov; When athread breaks in one 7 {section of the stocking knitting machine, thema- 1 chine 'is allowed to run'until all'of the stockings '50 'areknitted on the machine, which results in the feeding of the thread tothe section in which'the broken"thread'occurs; resulting in'great wasteof material.

' 'In" accordance with my "invention, I provide E novel meansforstepping the' feeding of the thread at the-thread carriers '5, so thatthe'thread to any I particular section can be stopped without stoppingthe entire knitting machine. I

In the present instance, I employ an elongated m la mas .ih three nst nQ0 movementand detachment fromthe tube;

. solid plug III, which is so shaped as to be snugly received Within aguide tube 8 against the thread 9, so as to wedge the thread thereinagainst further movement. As shown in Figure 4, the lower end of theplug I can be slightly tapered so as to facilitate the insertion of theplug or pin with- I in the guide tube 8, and the upper end of the plugcan be provided with a head I l to limit the inser-' tion of the plug ina tube and to facilitate the withdrawing of the plug from a tube afterthe plug has served its purpose.

As shown in Figure 4A, the head I I and apart the reference characterl3. This plug is' illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawing. The upperendof the tapered plug, shown in Figure 5, is of a greater diameter thanthe interior diameter of the tube, and consequently the plug graduallywedges itself in place in the tube when the plug is inserted in saidtube.

In order to prevent injury to the thread and to the highly polishedinner surface of the tube 8, the plugs are preferably made fromresilient live rubber. Obviously, when the plugs are formed fromresilient rubber, the same will give when forced into a guide tube andthus will not scratch the tube or hurt the thread.

The construction of the plugs is such that the same can be cheaply made,and the same can be readily and easily inserted in the guide tubes orremoved therefrom when the occasion demands.

Obviously, the invention isopen to certain modifications and changes,and the invention primarily resides in a member formed from elasticcushioning material, such as rubber, which is entirely independent ofthe thread-carrier and manually movable into and out of its operativeengagement on the carrier, whereby no change is necessary in the carrieritself, and so that no obstructions or projecting portions will beformed on the carrier. Particular stress is laidon the fact that themember is of elastic cushioning material, in that the member willfrictionally engage the carrier and thread for firmly holding the threadagainst movement on the carrier. This is important, as where a fine silkthread is held by metallic means rupture of the thread strands is liableto occur.

From the foregoing description, it can be se'en that I have provided anexceptionally simple and effective means for saving thread when a threadbreaks in a section of a stocking knitting machine.

Changes in details may be made without-departing from the spirit or thescope of my invenvented.

3. In a full-fashioned stocking knitting ma chine, the combination witha thread carrier having a guide tube at its lower end through which the.thread .travels, of a device for wedging the thread in the guide tubeagainst movement during the normal operation of the machine, includingan elongated cylindrical body tapering toward its lower end, said bodyhaving one face thereof flattened.

4. In a full-fashioned stocking knitting machinethe combination with athread carrier having a'guide tube at its lower end through which thethread travels, of a device for wedging the thread in the guide tubeagainst movement during the normal operation of the machine, includingan" elongated cylindrical body tapering to- ;ward its lower end, saidbody being formed from resilient rubber.

5. A device for stopping the feeding of thread through the guide tube ofa thread carrier of a full-fashioned stocking knitting machine,comprising an elongated body manually insertible in the tube having itsupper end of a greater diameter than the interior diameter of the tubewith which it is to be associated.

6. A device for stopping the feeding of thread through a thread carrierof a full-fashioned stocking knitting machine, comprising an elongatedbody having its upper end of a greater diameter than the interiordiameter of the tube with which it is to be associated, said body beingformed from cushioning material.

'7. A device for stopping the feeding of thread through a thread carrierof a full-fashioned;

,its upper end toward its lower end, said body being'formed fromresilient rubber and having its upper end of a greater diameter than thetube of the thread carrier with which it is to be associated.

9. In afull-fashioned hose knittingmachine, the combination with athread-carrier having a guide through which the thread travels, of anelastic member formed from cushioning material manually movable into andout of frictional gripping contact with the carrier and thread forholding the thread against movement during normal operation of themachine, and when said member is in its frictional contact with thecarrier and thread.

10. A device for stopping the feeding of thread through the guide tubeof a thread-carrier of a full-fashioned stocking knitting machinecomprising, a member formed from elastic cushioning material adapted tofrictionally engage the carrier and thread to stop the feeding of thethread through the carrier.

CHARLES STRZALKOWSKI.

